Foretold
by Depechemare
Summary: I am a complicated pony to say the least, I would live my life alone in a perfect world, away from everypony and in the safety of nature. However something draws me to my birthplace of Canterlot, the place I would probably still die for it I had to. Despite my terrible past in this city I feel that I can never leave it, as if I have some kind of destiny here.. If only I could see.
1. Chapter 1: The Bridge

**The Bridge**

It was a rather lovely day as I crossed the bridge that jutted over a small stream that ran around the park in Canterlot. It was a fairly busy but naturally it was a Friday afternoon and many ponies were already getting off work and deciding to take the long route home, a gentle breeze helping keep them cool under the rays of summer.

I smiled and felt the bristles of my beard which had grown to the point where I most likely looked a bit like Starswirl the Bearded. To most I would be considered a drunkard, a pony without a job or a care in the world, a beggar who did naught but waste his days either drinking or through gambling or through some other vice.

Honestly that was what I was really, unshaven for years my beard like my mane was greyed and quite thick, accenting the dark teal of my unwashed coat quite nicely. My clothes were that of old thrown away rags from which my wings were kept beneath, designed to keep me warm at night instead of enhancing my looks through fashion.

I never really flew anymore, I used to a lot as the clouds were the only place I could really get any kind of rest but naturally I had over the years stopped using my wings as to keep aloft used too much of my strength and now they were very weak and tired as a result.

I did drink, though lately I had simply taken to quietly resting under the bridge and shunning my liquor. Besides the bridge was quite a nice place to forget about your woes and troubles of which I had many. I would have liked to maybe get a real job in the city but that would be too much and I didn't need the pain to be enhanced by anything.

I saw ponies that were dating, saw them kiss and hold hooves and whisper to each other, I saw fillies and colts all running and playing whilst parents walked and talked behind them, catching glances at me here and there but then I saw other things, worse things though luckily the bridge had few of those to offer, it was quite a safe place.

"Safety" I sighed as I leaned back against the bridge and tried to close my eyes and enjoy the sun, try and not feel the bitterness in my heart whenever I felt of the wielder who controlled it.

"Mom I want to feed the ducks" a young colt begged his Mother from a few feet away. He was quite a small little thing with a pale yellow coat, chirpy and by the looks of it he'd grow up to be a bit of a weed but still he was adamant that his Mother, a kindly looking brown mare with soft green eyes let him fulfil his want.

My smile dropped to a frown as I shut my eyes and felt it coming. I saw what would happen, her delivering the bread into his tiny hooves, him clasping it with joy that only one so young could feel, being at the age when everything one did was some form of grand magic that adults could never hope to touch again.

He would then scrunch up a piece of the bread with his hooves and rear up using the rail for balance in an attempt to throw it. That's when I saw what I always dreaded would happen. The rail was old and rusted it had never been properly maintained throughout the summers and winters and as a result the bolts had cracked and rusted away until it was flimsy.

Many stallions and mares had put their weight on that rickety bit of rail but by the divines it happened to be this young colts insignificant weight that was about to make it collapse. So he reared over it and it snapped, the steel bits of rail with intricate designs etched into them coming undone and falling into open air along with the colt.

He would cry out as the mesh of metal caused him to flip so he was under it instead of on top of it and suddenly he was in the water, scaring away the ducks and sinking under the metals weight, not hearing as his Mother screamed for help as he reached the bottom of the tiny, murky stream.

There was then the silence, his lungs had no air, they couldn't as the metal and he hitting the water had winded him badly and now he was inhaling water, horrible stuff which he tried to regurgitate only to swallow more of it, filling his lungs.

Everything was really quiet now and his world was slowly turning black, he began to pass out, scared and alone wanting his Mother. Ponies would hear her screams and eventually dive into the stream, fumbling and fondling in the dark until they found his tiny body and dragged it to the side.

A nearby nurse would attempt to revive the colt but ultimately fail, the Mother would scream in anguish and another nearby mother would console her as ponies looked on with sadness and as an ambulance arrived, a nearby Pegasus having gone for help a few minutes after the Mother had alerted everypony.

The little colt would be taken to the hospital and pronounced dead and life would go on, his school would pay tribute, his friends would move on and forget him after mourning, his family would mourn him and eventually move on as well but his Mother wouldn't, no she'd remember him forever and ever, she wasn't married at least not anymore.

Her husband had died of Pegasitus years ago all she had left of him was her little one who without would spurn her to drugs, end up on the streets a bit like me only come Winter not knowing better with neither food nor warmth all of her bits going on something to numb the pain would kill her and she too would be dead.

I opened my eyes and threw up a little in my mouth. That was a strong one, much stronger than any I had, had recently and what was worse was all the great detail it went into this time.

It was a long story but basically I had the terrible ability to predict the future, except the only futures I could predict were snippets of information, mostly bland and uninteresting. However by design whenever a catastrophe or a crisis as it were was about to occur I would see it the emotions emitted in these situations being very strong, the closer I was to the pony in question the more vivid my foresight was and so that was my curse as right now I was about to watch this foal die.

I began to move away, not wanting to witness too much of the grisly site when I shut my eyes and saw something else. A very rare alternate future that I only got a few times probably 1 out of 100 but I had no way of really documenting them into a statistic.

There was the colt, there was the rail but as the rail gave way another took his place, grabbing the young one and throwing him to safety as he himself tumbled into the waters and came trapped under the railing. He too would swallow the thick and murky stream water and he too would in all likeness die at the scene.

 _"It's not like I have anything better to do"_ I thought as I spat out the vomit in my mouth and turned to see the little colt begin to rear. I acted immediately, throwing myself towards the little colt as the rail came undone and he began to cry out.

I caught him just as he began to fall and with all my strength threw him away from the stream whilst I took his place, laws of equal exchange and all that mumbo jumbo coming into play as I became entangled in the rail and felt the wind get knocked out of me as I hit the water with a tremendous splash, my back erupting in pain.

I sank quickly but tried at least for a few seconds not to inhale any of the putrid water of the stream. It wasn't long for me to think about my life up until that point but I didn't really want to think, I had no time left to think about the things I had seen, done and not done and later regretted but I had enough time to wish the little colt a good life, to do it right unlike me.

 _"I'm ready"_ was the last thing I thought as I opened my muzzle to try and inhale some air, only to receive the overpowering stream water that flooded my lungs and caused me to retch and hack more into them.

I was naturally trying to get out, I mean who wouldn't it's the bodies automatic response to something like this, to attempt to save yourself from such a horrible fate but of course as my vision turned gradually to black my struggles became void and eventually I passed out, likely in a few minutes I'd be dead, even if I was dragged from my watery tomb my lungs were full of water and my brain would have stopped working for too long.

So black came and to be honest I felt nothing and so I was content with the blackness although I knew not what anything was or could think what anything was for an eternity I am nothing but black and black is nothing but eternity.

That's what I figured anyway but as always fate decided that I should get a curveball even if it would be my last and suddenly I felt life as a huge punch, or at least what felt like a punch aimed at my chest which shocked me awake and I jolted upright gasping for air, coughing water out of my lungs as I attempted to breathe.

My head and vision span as I saw ponies all around me, one pony took a picture with a camera, blinding me as I began to hear talking as some white pony rose to stand over me with what might have been a joyous look on her face, I couldn't tell. "He's alive!" she announced and the crowd cheered her and began to stamp their hooves.

I continued to cough as I tried to shakily stand, only to fall back down my white saviour holding my head with a hoof as she knelt down and murmured "Please rest, don't try and stand you were dead for a moment there" her warm almost motherly tone of voice soothing my mind.

I shivered and realised all my rags had gone, likely pulled from me to help me breathe and now as the sun became obscured by clouds I contemplated whether living was such a great thing and wished that I had a canteen of whisky on me as for this situation it would really help.

"W-what's the point" I murmured to myself as my hacking turned into wheezing. The white mare who had been obscured my my blurry vision came into view suddenly and with it the realisation and horror hit me that I had been saved by none other than her majesty Princess Celestia.

"No" I wheezed as I tried to pick myself up and push myself away from her "It can't be you" I coughed as the crowds applause roared in my ears. Her soft features and her vibrantly colourful wavy mane came into view as I tried to crawl away from her, all thoughts from before having been put aside at the horror of my situation.

She was confused I could tell but she was not about to let the confusion be known as her expression changed to that of worry and she announced to the crowd "This Stallion has performed a most noble deed, my guards and I were informed whilst spending the afternoon touring Canterlot of how he saved the young colt on the bridge, sacrificing himself in the blink of an eye and how medics might not reach him in time and so I quickly teleported to the scene to help this noble pony, as I'm sure any of you would. For his bravery he will be treated by the best doctors in the Royal Castle's Hospital Wing all with no expenses spared."

The crowd roared with furious applause as she said this, of course they did it was only natural since they had just witnessed their Princess save some hobo who had just saved some kid it was like some crappy trash fiction novel. I knew that it was all too good to be true though and feared for not my life but what they would do to me.

 _"She's playing a game, toying with me but I know that when I reach that castle I may very well end up strapped down to a table just like last time with the Doctors…"_ I stopped thinking about what had happened when I had last come before the Princess supposedly to receive help and focused on getting up, it had been so long since she'd seen me at least when I was normal, she was likely waiting until after the operations to inspect the final product.

I pushed her weakly aside and tried to get to the crowd still talking and clapping but she prevented me as her horn lit up and her magic held me in place like a rag doll and I suddenly felt very tired, sleepy even and knew that I was about to be put to sleep by magic.

I had really enjoyed the last few months to be honest, the park with the kids and the ponies head over hooves for each other. It reminded me of what I could never have sure but with my mind I imagined what it would be like. I didn't need to imagine what Celestia's Doctors would do to me as I already knew, being the experiment into telling the future and all was not a gift I was born with, oh no I was implanted with it and I was about to go back and this time I probably wouldn't be able to escape.

I closed my eyes as I tried to tell what my Future would be, naturally though these curses don't work like magic, you can't turn them off an on again they only tell you what you don't need to know and usually it's too late or you can do nothing. This time I had decided to act out against that grain only because of the chance of a different outcome…

My mistake

 ***Writers Note***

 _It's been a while since I've done anything, I never really stick to a project so I guess if you wanna stick with it you'll just have to see how far it goes._


	2. Chapter 2: Internment

**Internment**

So here I was, propped up on a bed with some very comfortable goose feather pillows, being tended to by Equestria's finest Doctors and nurses and probably getting several minor diseases I'd picked up over the years cured along with all the regular vaccinations and tests put on me, being prepared for the real Doctors I guessed.

Probably the biggest crime they'd done so far was to shave off my beard, reducing my face to that of a young stallion instead of the old hobo I was supposed to be, sure my hair was still grey but now I looked like some fresh colt straight out of University, something I would have probably liked had the years not taught how immature I once was and full of spunk for the nation.

I had been groomed everywhere else additionally as well, my mane had been basically styled, my coat had been de-mucked, my hooves tended to and generally I felt good, yet not limber, how could I relax when I knew they were simply fixing me for their wicked experiments.

Celestia hadn't come by yet but then I'd only been awake for a few hours and according to one of the good Doctors I had been asleep for about a day, didn't feel like it but then how are you supposed to get any real sleep when you're in a den of lions, unconscious or not you just wouldn't be able to feel safe.

I saw guards everywhere around me, they guarded the doors, patrolled the ward and occasionally eyed me from afar, never saying a word to anypony and always with that same regal and downright stone-faced stance that gave them their fierce if not widely known reputation.

I bet that some of them were actually nice stallions but I knew that the ones in here would likely be the same that guarded and beat me back in the days with the Doctors, they had done other things as well, despicable things and although it was long ago I bet that these guards were descendants.

I coughed a little, my throat very sore as one of the nurses stopped by to check the machine I was hooked up to. "When will I be allowed to leave?" I asked her, a question I'd asked everypony about 20 times now only to receive the type of answer that I was about to receive now.

"Oh silly you need to rest a bit longer, you're in safe hooves now and Celestia will be around in a while to check up and personally thank you for your bravery", she said in a very kindly tone but it was safe to assume that she wasn't part of Celestia's Death Doctors… at least that was what I called them and with the things I'd seen the name fit the bill.

" _I should have never stayed in Canterlot_ " I thought to myself as the mare went away again, whistling a catchy tune with a nice spring in her step as if the world was her oyster. "I should have stayed in exile in Stalliongrad forever, returning to Canterlot was a mistake."

I was supposedly good at seeing future crises and problems but it seemed by some sad design of fate that I was never able to predict my own future unless I was in it with somepony else doing the dying or the maiming.

I didn't need magical powers to be able to tell that I was about to go back to hell though and with all the years that had passed it was unlikely they would slip up in the way they had last time and allow me a window of time to escape with my life.

Well when I said escape it was running in blind and bloody panic, falling through the window to my supposed death as I remembered it, " _I still don't know how I survived that night bu…"_ I stopped mid-thought as I heard the clip clop of shoes much louder than any guards and with the sudden change in the vibrance in the air I could tell that my time had come.

I swallowed and laid back in my bed as Celestia came into view, trotting casually across the marble floors with a smile on her face. "Total bitch" was the only thing I thought as she stopped at the foot of my hospital bed and in the span of a few seconds she seemingly analysed me, there wasn't any drastic change in her face but she'd had 1000 years to perfect the art of not smirking it triumph.

"It is very nice to meet you properly kind sir" she began in that cheery, regal bullshitting way she probably always used when speaking to everypony but I wasn't in the mood for this little game and promptly cut through her words.

"Shut up Celestia and get this mandatory victory speech over, y-you've won alright? You've found me after all these years, maybe I should have not come back but can you blame a stallion from wanting for his hometown? You're sick you know that!? You're regime is so perfectly worked out, boy I wish ponies could see what you do behind closed doors but I guess you have extermination squads and spies to help deal with any leaks. What's the matter? Manticore got your tongue?" I raged with a controlled temper.

Well it certainly shut her up as she did in fact seem lost for words and shuffled from side to side, her expression became one that would be best described as confused as she asked me "I… I'm not sure what you're getting at sir, I was about to ask your name but… I'm sorry are you under the impression that we have met before?"

I blinked and stared at her, she was not serious was she? I mean I bet she was a good actress but right now she was doing a severely good job at seeming clueless.

I swallowed and licked my muzzle as I rasped "You cannot be serious? Stop toying with me Celestia and remember me, let's just get this over with, hopefully your Doctors will screw up and push a scalpel into my brain, anything that will save me from the nightmare you want to inflict upon me…"

Celestia was lost for words now, her jaw hanging open and and stance becoming more shifty as an uncomfortable silence descended. She excused herself for a moment as she motioned to a Doctor to come over, they pulled the curtain closed but I heard whispering from the otherside, murmurs of brains and insanity were the primary words that were used but after two minutes her golden magic hue pulled the curtain back and after regaining her composure asked "Can you tell me your name sir? We don't have you in our record of births, are you from Canterlot?"

I sighed and slumped in my bed and stared dumbly at her. "You don't remember hmm? Well I may as well jog your memory, who cares anyway it's not like I have anypony else to talk to at this point."

I cleared my throat again and kept a level eye with the Princess who seemed more concerned than smarmy but then what did I know about her mind, she was a sick twisted mare who only cared about keeping control over her populace.

"Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria… about 200 maybe 300 years ago there was a pony who had just graduated from the University of Canterlot with Merit in Divinity and a mysterious aptitude to tell small details of the future, nothing major just like what weather it would be tomorrow or whether sudden accidents were about to occur you know bland stuff but rare amongst non-Unicorns.

So he did his two year military service as at that time for he was proud of his nation and so his abilities were noticed and he along with 15 others with similar abilities were selected for a special project and brought before their ruler Princess Celestia.

Oh she was radiant, so beautiful and wise and after a delicious meal and some hearty conversation she oversaw us sign contracts that apparently let us be subjected to standard tests for over a year, funny because the next thing that happened wasn't what they all expected.

They woke up below the castle, in the deepest darkest caves beneath the city where nopony could hear you scream. When I say they I guess I should just switch to we… we all awoke to these vicious guards which tormented and beat us and did… things to the mares particularly, these horrifying Doctors who one by one dragged us away and subjected us to torture and horrible experiments that left some of us deformed, mentally damaged and sometimes dead.

The lead Doctor was the Royal Medical Examiner to the state a Doctor Eugenic, a black stallion who had a heart blacker than the darkest night who told us that we would become the warning system of the state, that with his medical and scientific understanding of our brains he would implant our us with parasitic worms from the Mountains of the farthest reaches of the Empire that had psychedelic and hallucinogenic properties which would amplify a certain part of our brains to help us predict futures with such clarity we would see everything before it had even happened!"

I was getting angry now and began to sit up, Celestia staring at me with fright as she seemed to legitimately remember me and her evil fucking Doctor and probably all the reports she'd read about our progress. Even if she had legitimately not known about me personally I wasn't about to stop this tirade as she was the pony responsible as the good Doctor had liked to remind us.

"The worms would kill the host after a few weeks he discovered so naturally he went further and so we began to be fed with this horrible gruel that would strengthen our systems before being injected with some kind of derivative of your Alicorn blood mixed with divines know what that would pair with our cells and make us live forever.

Guess what? A new problem emerged as our bodies rejected it all and so I watched my comrades as they bled from their eyes, from their ears as they vomited bloody gruel all over me and cried for our captors to kill them, to end their lives and take the unbearable pain away."

It had been over a decade since I had thought about them, my fellow captives, my friends. We'd been held for over a year there gradually our numbers reduced to four of us, the ones who had been able to take the torture and the implantations and the serums and everything that came with it.

"The blood now in our systems made us immortal sure but still we were weak and prone to disease, the mixture not being enough to keep us healthy anymore. So Eugenic did his final move and tapped into some dark magics, and selected half of us to survive and half of us to die.

Myself and a mare called Violet, she was pretty once I bet, she mentioned she was a flower arranger but she was broken in body and mind by that time, the pretty ones were always the first to get dragged out by your evil fucking guards!"

I stopped as I tried not to burst in sobs over her when I remembered her screams, the laughter from them, from what they did to her, what Celestia had sighed off on to have done to her by members of her own special protection force.

"We were strapped down as he literally sucked the life out of my other friends, killing them painfully and embedding us with their vitality, they died for the sole reason that they were less likely to survive what came next. With little anaesthetic he opened up our heads, with his tools and assistants he implanted the parasite that still lives in my mind to this day and I saw it all, in the blink of an eye I saw everything so much that I couldn't quantify it and it nearly turned me insane.

He had to stop though as it was said that there was a serious problem upstairs in the castle and so he sewed us up, drugged us and left his scalpel on the bench telling us he would return in 20 minutes to finish us. Violet by some hidden strength broke through her bonds, grabbed the scalpel and cut the sole guard who was watching us across the throat, stabbing him until he was nothing but tenderised meat!

She nearly cut mine too, saying that we were monsters but she decided against for some reason, maybe some tiny sanity breaking through to let me live. She cut me free then she took her own life, running the blade across her throat as she babbled insanity."

I was crying now, tears soaking down my cheeks and against the green hospital gown I had been put into. I flapped my wings and suddenly I was off the bed and on my hooves as I realised that this was an opportunity, or at least this was a shot I could take at the Princess in the name of those who she and everyone had forgotten.

"I ran Princess, ran I don't know where the caves were endless, they turned from mines, to caves and into dungeons and eventually I was in the castle and there were guards, my mind get's fuzzy here" I smiled as I strode towards her, picking up a nearby bone saw and coughing as I continued "It was a while ago but I remember jumping out a window, flapping my wings to try and stop my plummet and hitting my head."

I was very close now but she didn't seem to be moving away from me or trying to stop me so I took the opportunity and said "I should have died but fate let me live, I woke up on a riverbank, I must have fallen into the river under Canterlot, I know why I'm alive though, why I have lived all these miserable year!"

I grinned almost maniacally as I stood straighter and with more vigour than I had, had for many years. "My name is Renovare Faithe, I am the only survivor of Project Foretell and I SHALL HAVE… MY REVENGE!"

With that I made my glorious move, lunging with saw in hoof, intending to cut her long neck and make sure that she remembered my name before she bled to death. I was truly mad with rage and she was truly paralysed with fear as I bore down upon her with fire and fury.

I was surprised when I suddenly felt magic surround me, and to the side I saw for a second a purple filly with a shocked expression staring fearfully at me, right before her purple magic slammed me across the wards and into multiple empty beds and curtains.

I hacked and coughed and felt my ribs, definitely a few broken and shivered as my head swirled with confusion and anger and sadness, "I am sorry friends, I have failed you, I tried to t-t-though… I tried to a-avenge you it was the least I could do" I sobbed aloud as guards surrounded me with spears and my vision began to swirl into a grand mess.

"Your ruler is a MURDERER!" I cried aloud with the last of my energy as the butt of a guards spear connected with my skull, knocking me out and sending me into my dreams where Doctor Eugenic was waiting for me with his assistants.

 _"The nightmare will never end for you my little pony. You are my property and you shall serve the cause of science whether you like it or not."_ His assistants grabbed me and began to drag me away, I couldn't struggle, I couldn't move I simply screamed bloody murder as they strapped me down, my tears turning to blood as the began their work and the nightmare truly began."


	3. Chapter 3: Sentencing

**Sentencing**

Admittedly the moment had caused me to maybe act out a bit rash. I mean I hadn't seen a future where the Princess was getting stabbed by me or anything when I had tried to remove her head from her body so for me to even bother getting out of bed was a little pointless to begin with.

Being able to see my own future would have been nice though, it would mean that I wouldn't be strapped down to this hospital bed and that I wouldn't have this numb pain down my torso, well I suppose it could be worse.

Somepony, either the Princess or one of her top magic wielders had healed my ribs, at least to the point they were not broken, they still felt stiff and painful but then that's the nature of the beast I supposed, oh the glories of magical medicine of this age " _If only they had them 300 years ago…"_ well actually they had but Eugenic didn't really believe in pain relief as a medication… then again 300 years ago I was not a patient, just an experiment and oh there's me going on about myself again.

I sighed as I stared up at the ceiling, a much lower one than the ward I had been in. I was likely transferred to an isolated disease ward as it was a very small, bubble wrapped room with an observation window where I was likely being monitored by at least two guards and maybe the Princess, I couldn't tell as it was blackened out on this side.

I lay for about an hour, listening to the hum of all the machines I was hooked up to and sighed, a little bored admittedly and waiting for somepony to pop out sometime. I decided that with nothing better to do I would try to clear my mind and see if any lucky fortune telling came my way, something to give me an insight into what was about to happen, though usually it required proximity or at least for me to eyeball the object I once saw (although many years ago) the future of some kind of foreign Prince in a far away land as he got ready for bed and tripped over his satin sheets, knocking himself out on the end table was given to me.

Quite a bizarre future but I didn't pretend to know the science, heck I don't think Eugenic really knew what he was doing either, just taking wild stabs in the dark and if it failed there were always more test subjects.

It wouldn't surprise me if Celestia hadn't got more ponies like me hooked up in some tiny room, staring out a window, predicting futures and catastrophes or whatever. I mean I had predicted at points global crises just not very clearly, I could always tell however when something was coming for Canterlot, be it a shadow army or a stray dragon it usually made some clue to me.

Only with bad stuff though and I never knew how far in the future it was, I remembered when the worm went in, I felt it all, I can't remember it now, the information would likely be too much to process but I remember predicting the futures of everypony, every thing and every object ever for a split second and it was to say a feeling that would sit atop that of a God.

Of course that changed as the worm settled and my future forecasts dimmed slightly, maybe all the head trauma helping as well. I figured emotions had much to do with it as naturally ponies are good a remembering the bad and forgetting the good, with predictions it was similar and bad predictions were easier to read than good predictions in all cases.

I rarely predicted ponies getting married or ponies winning the lottery when they passed me by in the park but when a pony passed who was about to lose his job I would see him getting fired and shunned by his co-workers, when another was about to propose I would see him get turned down by the mare who was actually operating on double standards at the time with his best friend.

Quite depressing stuff but that's why I preferred the park, it was a much nicer place to spend time than in an alley where the negativity of the city could at times make me want to give up on it all there and then. Though I stuck to the park there aren't any liquor stores there so expeditions are sometimes needed.

I guess that's something else to think about, drinking helped like it or not. Drinking helps me forget it all, helps me to numb my predictions and focus on the important things in life… of which I had none really but hey the feeling of euphoria was basically a drug and it was my chosen drug.

I looked up as I heard some clatter in the distance and after closing my eyes I saw what was a member of what must have been the medical staff fumbling over some dropped utensils that he'd been pushing on the tray, he was about to cut himself on a sharp syringe I could clearly see.

I coughed and was back in the room just in time to hear a yelp of pain followed by a small silence. That was a small one, but then time never really functioned the same when I was predicting the future.

I would close my eyes unwillingly sometimes and see the future but when I opened them it was pretty much as if I had blinked, as had been the case with the kid I'd stupidly saved on the bridge… I didn't know how long it had been though they'd likely had me under magical suspended animation for a few days as they studied me.

Which brought me to my latest and most troublesome thoughts which were to put it straight " _Why am I not being operated on or poked and prodded right now? Or is this more sick joke that we can all laugh over after?"_

I was unsure of a lot of things now, a lot had changed in the span of time that it had taken me to rant to Celestia and attempt to kill her. Her reactions puzzled me though I could not confirm if they were genuine or the perfection of 1000 years of bluffing, lying, cheating and generally being a ruler.

I knew she had an excellent poker face but she genuinely reminded me of a pony who was confused, shocked and afraid all at once and the fact some other random pony had saved her, a filly for that matter was just a cherry on the cake at this point.

I mean did she actually forget about me and the others? About Project Foretell? Did she have any inkling of what Eugenic and her guards were doing or were Eugenics taunts really lies and she never signed off on such an operation. Then again how come she never checked up on us or anything of the sort?

I sighed for the 50th time and wondered how I'd gotten back into this fucking joke. Stalliongrad was cold, Stalliongrad was hard and best of all it was isolated and nopony walked in it's gloomy streets. Nopony at all so surprisingly a city where life was brutal and cold was a city where I found a lot of peace.

It was a fledgling city when I exiled myself to it all those years ago, I hid there for a long time and drank heavily in those years to dull my mind but eventually after a century and after I established with myself that I would be around for a little while yet I opted to return to Canterlot, albeit as an old hobo with bad breath and lack of hygiene, unlike the young go-getter I had been when I was a citizen of it.

I had stuff to take care of as well when I returned, I had my family who had all died of natural causes, all my cousins, my older sisters, my younger brother and my parents were all buried and still are to this day in the catacombs below the city, I regretted never contacting them but after the torment I had received I was afraid Eugenic would find me and _"Come back to finish me"_ as he had last told me.

I had family still, nieces and nephews and grand nieces and whatever but they were not really family at least not in the sense I had known. I would cry but I had shed my tears and mourned them long ago, they're just more baggage to carry now as their memories fade into Twilight.

The first 10 years or so I had been high strung after returning to the city but I eventually relaxed, let my guard down for a century or so and now I was paying the price for it, strapped to a hospital bed and awaiting either some torture or a stern talk from somepony important, I didn't know what I feared most but I hoped that either would be over quickly.

I coughed a little and decided that I was done with all of this silent treatment, heck the most entertaining thing that I'd seen was some intern prick his hoof and I didn't think that anything else was about to happen so I demanded "Hey come on can we get this over with? Really I'd rather watch paint dry."

Silence permeated the air for a long time but I knew I had been heard at least by somepony important, likely a lieutenant of something who would report either to his Captain or the Princess directly and either one of them would now come through the door to the right that I could not perceive thanks to the large strap holding my head in place and tell me how everything was going to work.

Any minute now that was… any minute in the next 5 minutes they would enter through that door and they would begin talking with me…

I counted to about 4329 seconds before anything actually happened and it wasn't what I expected, it wasn't the Princess that came through those doors, it wasn't the Captain of the Royal Guard, it wasn't some Doctor who had come to check up on me but an older filly just in her teens most likely with fur of lavender and and hair of many interesting hues and colours.

I blinked and as I closed my eyes I began to see something interesting, it was vague and patchy but I could tell that this was not going to be a bad future.

I saw towers, not just Canterlots rising from the ground, I saw the sun and the moon spinning from side to side as if they couldn't decide if they should shine or set in the day and night and I saw this filly, her eyes gleaming and other ponies around her, encased in an aura of magic more powerful than anything I'd ever seen in all my predictions, I saw mountains and forests and oceans and Empires and all centred around her.

The vision ended and I shook my head in a daze as I looked up at the filly, realising that it was the very same filly whose magic had grasped me and sent me spiralling across the ward. "By the divines" I murmured, temporarily forgetting everything about myself and my predicament and simply staring in what might have been awe at this one.

She took a seat just after the foot of my bed, staring at me quizzically and with some fear it seemed, well only natural I guess she was in a room with a psycho she had foiled from killing her beloved ruler.

There was that small silence for a few moments, the only noise to be heard being that of an extractor fan and the medical machines but after a while she decided to break it by introducing herself. "Hello there sir, my name is Twilight Sparkle, personal protégé to Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. I believe your name is Renovare Faithe?"

She was polite and very timid but I judged that was her natural character and after taking a second to clear my throat I decided to give her the same courtesy, even if she was under the tutelage of the witch Celestia I could tell her future was going to be epic. "Indeed that is my name young one, may I myself ask why it is that you come before me?"

It was a legitimate question, she was young and confronting me was surely not a solution that was primarily chosen but then again she impressed me when she replied "I was the one who hurt you after I saved Princess Celeste, I argued that I should have a chance to speak to you before Celestia so that I can understand why you would want… why you would w-want to kill her."

I licked my lips as this innocent filly stared at me and I stared back and suddenly I shut my eyes and felt it, it came with such terrible force that it was hard to comprehend at first. I saw power, like before but raw and brutal. It came down like a fiery mist and tore at Equestria's soil, it poisoned that land and salted it's crops. I saw lines of ponies clad in metal, slaves forced to submission before a dark figure, a figure of dark lavender with eyes of glowing green and a height that towered over Celestia and a smile sicker than anything Eugenic could ever pull off and then screaming, such terrible sounds of pain and torture and the…

I threw up, the bile spewing down my hospital gown and covering me as tears rose to my eyes and I began to hyperventilate, staring at Twilight with fear as she similarly stared back at me in the same fashion, confusedly looking to me and the observation window, trying not to cringe as two guards entered into the room and tried to take her out.

"No! I'm alright" she protested and readjusted her position, I myself was feeling a bit woozy but somehow I don't think they care much for how I felt. "I'm s-s-sorry" I apologised to her as I tried to get my mind back in order. "It's just I saw something… something that was very terrible and dark and that had you in it."

Twilight and the guards paused and after a moment of stares between one another that spoke more than words they contented themselves and Twilight by standing behind her and eyeing me stoically as if their eyes were about to pop out of their skulls and beat me to death.

Twilight composed herself and ignoring her old question she asked "What do you mean you saw something Mr Renovare?"

I shifted a little uncomfortably as she gazed at me with those innocent eyes. I never liked telling other ponies futures, I had never let many ponies know my secret for security reasons since Celestia might be out to get me but on the few times I had ponies usually reacted badly to them so I explained "As you may know from your tutor young Twilight I can see certain things, futures if you will, usually negative but occasionally positive and the more grand the more vivid I see them.

I have just peered into what I believe to be your Future… well I peered into two futures and may I say it looks like no matter what happens you are going to be in for the ride of your tiny life."

I could tell Twilight was interested and wanted to ask questions, but then who wouldn't be when you had a pony who could tell the future in front of you. I could see she wasn't a bad pony and at this point I was willing to bet Celestia wasn't bad either and had nothing to do with Eugenics experiments but still… she was responsible in my mind for having a stallion such as him on her board and I wanted explanations… If I wasn't locked away for the rest of my life for trying to stab her with a medical saw.

Twilight I could tell was about to ask about her future but after a moment to again compose herself she kept all her bubbly energy down and instead asked "The Princess has told me some things about you, that you believe you were mistreated or hurt by one of her former Physicians from a long time ago, longer than anypony can possibly live… is it true that you can indeed tell the Future? I mean we have indeed found that there is a parasitic worm in your brain but… well it's a little bit hard to believe is all I'm saying."

She was skeptical, it was natural but I wasn't really sure how else I could really explain it so after some thought I sighed and said "Believe me I would like to say I couldn't see the future but that would be a lie. I would like to say nopony can live that long but that would also be a lie. I would like to say that I didn't try to kill Princess Celestia but once more that would be quite a huge lie little Twilight. Believe me I don't want any trouble, I don't want anything really I'm just really tired and to put it plain I guess I got some things wrong, made mistakes but then again they were justifiable at the time.

I've lived for many years ignoring my feelings and forgetting the past but when Celestia visited me, a supposed hero I let it all spill out because I believed I was about to die, or at least experience something worse than death itself and my attempt on her life was simply a last ditch attempt of a pony who had nothing left to lose at that point.'

Twilight listened intently as I explained this and I had no doubt that parts of her mind were trying to see what I was saying and that they were failing to comprehend it. "You seem like you're telling the truth but then I don't know who you really are and this could all be some kind of elaborate lie that you've fabricated to get close to the Princess and now that you've failed you could be trying to take another shot at your evil mission."

She was smart I'd give her that much and I smiled, it feeling weird without my beard and asked "What would you like from me to prove myself Twilight?" quite a direct demand to ask upon a filly who was playing in the big leagues, Celestia must have some faith in her though so I wasn't going to go easy on her.

She sat back and thought for a while with a hoof to her chin as she contemplated what could help me to tell the truth. "There are a few truth serums and spells out there but with careful practice they can be cheated and overcome… I could always ask you to tell the future or something that would be otherwise impossible" she said but I shook my head.

"Telling the future isn't like simple magic, I can't just turn it on and off Twilight it requires conditions to be met, namely I need proximity to a pony to tell their future and I can only tell it if it's particularly bad or particularly good. I'm sure the Princess told you about how I saved a little colt the other day?

Well I saw him die Twilight, saw as he fell into that stream and watched as his little lungs filled with water. Now I thought that was his future but I saw another future where somepony saved him and so I decided to save him and now I'm here so you can see that this whimsical power is not in aid of me it is a curse and it was one given to me by one of Celestia's top brass and as I told Celestia the things he did were worse than death Twilight, worse than death."

Twilight had wide eyes and looked a little out of her depth as she stuttered and tried to think of something to say to me. At that exact moment however the door to the right opened again and that same warm, motherly voice called out and ordered "Twilight I would like to speak to him now, you've done very well but I'm afraid I must have words now."

Twilight seemed tempted to say no but she closed her eyes and seemed to nod, getting up off her haunches and trotting slowly away, giving me one last look before she disappeared. There was a moments pause before Celestia walked in, her form towering over the guards who saluted immediately and seemed to stand taller than they had in the presence of Twilight.

The Princess didn't sit, she stood before the foot of my bed and seemed to examine me as she had before in the ward. I in turn examined her, her soft and flowing hair as she always had, her bright white coat, her golden eyes that spoke ages of wisdom and her cutie mark bearing the sun upon it.

After a while of us simply staring each other over she began to speak, asking "Do you want that vomit removed?" a question I had not personally anticipated and seemed almost comical. "No, I'm all good thanks your majesty" I retorted though it was actually very uncomfortable as it had soaked through the hospital gown and into my fur and was beginning to itch.

The silence carried over for a moment longer before I finally found the will to speak up. "I apologise Princess for trying to murder you, it was likely based on false information and I promise I won't do it again."

It was a weak apology that could come from the mouth of a pony in kindergarten but I didn't care, I wasn't 100% feeling this apology and I could tell that the Princess saw this. "Still it was nice of you to send a filly in to scout for you first, very brave" I murmured with sarcasm, unable to help myself.

"This situation is very bizarre I'm sure you'll understand, we have done many tests and found that your blood has a strikingly close resemblance to mine something that is near impossible, we've also found that worm you were… talking about is in your brain, hooked into every possible part of you and personally between you and me I do remember hosting a small dinner with my Lead Researcher and 15 other test subjects over Project Foretell, an ultimately failed project which I was told saw no fruition over 300 years ago" she said all the whilst her eyes looked directly into mine.

I shuffled a little in my restraints and sighed as I closed my eyes and began to see a future. I saw the Princess standing over a grave of somepony, weeping as it began to rain, there were beautiful white lilies everywhere and thunder sounded off in the distance.

It changed and suddenly there she was again ruling in her court, ponies all around her but suddenly as if by magic they all fell where they stood, collapsing as something terrible happened to them, something ungodly. Finally to end my sight on a plus not I saw great armies of darkness surrounding the Princess and consuming her and with that I opened my eyes and tried not to throw up.

It was obvious that the Princess had detected something was up in that short span of time that I had, had my eyes shut for but she refrained from asking what it was and relented herself to wait for me to talk to her.

"Yes to answer your question I saw a vision of you and yes it seemed fairly morbid. If you don't mind Princess I would feel a little better if we could possibly talk more in private…" I motioned with a crane of my head to the guards and added "Also the observation window counts."

The Princess paused a moment as she considered this and then after peering behind her at her guards which seemed steadfast about not leaving with a wave she had them sent off, leaving the room with heavy frowns directed towards me.

After the door closed the Princesses horn lit up with a golden hue and after a brief moment she confirmed "The room is now silenced, nopony in the observation room can hear us or see us, what was it you wanted to discuss Mr Renovare."

I sighed and wondered if what I was about to say was too direct, but I went ahead with it anyway and asked "Did you know of the horrors and atrocities that went on in Project Foretell? Did you know Eugenic was a murderous stallion who would stop at nothing to achieve results and did you know that a large portion of your guard were implemented in these atrocities?"

Celestia wasn't taken aback by my directness as she had in the ward and actually after some silence she answered in a rather controlled way "I have never had any knowledge of any wrong doing during project Fortell, I signed off on all the experiments and drugs that were being issued to the subjects and issued them all safe and friendly.

Dr Eugenic was a well respected stallion from the University of Canterlot who made several breakthroughs in his life and has been honoured to have several Hospitals and wings named after him. Finally my guards would never take part in the active supposed beating, torture, rape and murder of innocent ponies and I find that although your story might be in part true that, that part is highly false I can safely say.

I raised an eyebrow in complete disbelief as she said this and began to get angry, I had pretty much accepted her ignorance to Project Foretells events but for her to deny that her guards had anything to do with it and to pretty much say that Eugenic couldn't possibly have had anything to do with it was too much.

"They were your guards, it was your Doctor! He might have been able to cover all this up since everypony supposedly died I bet he just issued that all his research was a load of codswallop and you accepted it, to be fair I thought for years that you were after me and that I would be brought back but I see after all this time that maybe you do have a heart but how could you never investigate this? How did history ever sweep this under the rug? How could you allow this to happen to us? Your people!?"

Tears came to my eyes again and I sniffed, not wanting to show weakness, a feeling of injustice having been served. My friends forgotten, Eugenic a hero with honours and everypony implemented in this case had died so long ago and now I remained, a broken vessel who might still be swept under the rug yet.

Celestia looked truly stuck, she was obviously thinking deeply on a lot of things but she seemed still unconvinced about my entire story. "I believe you" she eventually said, something that made my eyes widen until she followed through with "I believe that you have a point to all this but I cannot confirm without evidence."

I was about to angrily protest again but before I could Celestia raised a hoof to silence me and said "You are a mystery that needs to be solved, you shouldn't exist and yet you do and if your words have merit then… I and Dr Eugenic and whoever else implemented in your story all deserve punishment for what was done but I cannot simply believe you.

I… I would offer you two choices… the first is that I shall release you and that you would be let free to go back to your days on the street and no authority of mine shall pursue you, no record of this shall be recorded and history shall forget you again."

She paused for breath as I listened intently, to go back to my old life would be nice, at least it would be quieter I'd only been awake a few hours and already I'd predicted like four futures, most of them horrible and to get over this and forget again would only take a few weeks of non stop liquor.

"However if you would accept it I would have you investigate Project Foretell, I would release a special declaration giving you access to everything, the archives, the military and warrants too all Equestrian Institutes and premises. If you can bring some proof of what you say happened back to me then I will launch a full scale investigation and if proved guilty I would see Eugenic's name scrubbed from history and would honour all those ponies including you who were subjected to such evil."

I blinked as her words hit me like a steam train and I tried to comprehend the resources that would mean. " _Unrestricted access"_ I thought to myself. I could avenge them, grant them justice, even if Eugenic had lived a good life I could kill his name and shame all those who hurt us, turn them into the monsters they were and let the world know of them.

But then… did it matter? Eugenic was a smart pony and if he'd pulled the wool over Celestia's eyes then how did I know there would be anything left? It was all ancient history really and history was written by the victors of whom were Eugenic and those stallions.

"I… I would" I tried to say something but I was really having trouble in finding words to put into a sentence. I had spent years hiding in the dark from Celestia who I'd thought nothing more of than an evil tyrant who shone herself as a kind and decent ruler but then I'd spent years from hiding from the reality that I had done nothing to bring Eugenic down all because I was scared… well today that would end.

"Buck it, I'll do it Princess, give me all the access I can get and I'll show you and all of Equestria. I'll prove that Eugenic was a foul pony and when it happened I want everything you promised and a public apology from the crown!"

I was hyped up for the first time in years, the feeling of anger and vengeance burning away the feelings of hopelessness and despair that had lingered in my soul for years. I would have my revenge on the real instigator and I would have my friends remembered with honours.

Celestia's magic once more lit up as the room emanated with it as she cancelled the spell and suddenly my straps flew off me, releasing me from the bed. I got up and flapped my wings which I and been lying on a little uncomfortably and stretched painfully.

I turned to Celestia with my hoof held out. "Deal" was all I said and all I received from Celestia in return was the exact same… "Deal" she echoed and clasped my hoof tightly as we met each others eyes.

I still didn't trust her, how could I after all these years? Still I trusted she wasn't going to kill me or torture me and if she granted me this access then even if I was silenced by the end of this I would have tried to avenge my friends and myself.

"So it begins…" I cracked a smile, my young face probably showing the insanity that was in my eyes.

 ***Writers Note***

 _Please review and make seen any large errors, mistakes and continuation problems and maybe I'll fix them... maybe I won't who knows._


	4. Chapter 4: Talking

**Talking**

Alright so I had been on some drugs at the time I had made the promise to Celestia to investigate my past. Naturally they must have been very strong as right now I wasn't feeling at all infused with the power of revenge and the fires of anger certainly were not a burnin' within my belly.

I had been however taken from my isolated ward/prison cell and after a brief few notes and regulations on how to behave, which I slept through I had been awarded with a badge wrapped around a necklace that was basically an all access pass to the castle and put me on the same authority as the Captain of the Royal Guard himself, something he was certainly unhappy with.

Besides that I had also been given some bits, clothes and a guest room in the castle with a nice study from which I could use to compile my reports and use other investigationy type things like magnifying glasses and whatever else you can think of in a crime book, I don't know let's throw in a trench coat and fedora.

Having lost a lot of my courage from before I had immediately taken the liberty to investigate the castle cellar and liberate some hostages. I had already gone through half a bottle of 42 year old Whisky and had a couple of ten or twenty bottles left back in my room, naturally for questioning later.

Until then as I was doing now I was gently flapping around the castle, whisky in hoof and doing some detective work. The first place I naturally visited were the kitchens where I further liberated some fine court pastries from their oven prison cells and straight into my stomach before dashing across a work top.

It was around about then that I began to feel a vision coming as I stared at one of the chefs so I doubled up and took a huge gulp of the only medicine which seemed to work and what would you know it I was cured! I didn't have the vision of her falling to her death or sticking her face in a hot pan and instead I… actually what happened next was a bit of a blur.

Next I knew I was upside down on top of a statue of some mare holding a large flag, nestled uncomfortably on her shoulder and low and behold below me was a guard, keeping watch as some regular court ponies passed me by and eyed me in curiosity and contempt.

"Bucking fascists" I coughed as I slipped off the statue and crashed into a heap at the feet of the young guard who simply stared at me. He seemed like the standard everyday guard, same armour, white coat and blue mane but his expression instead of being stoic was one of amusement and of boredom as if he'd been here for a while, guarding the drunk.

It was then, through the haze of a migraine and the hyper light sensitivity that I had one, closing my eyes I saw him atop a balcony with something in his hooves, something he threw really hard and then the next thing I saw was his eyes glowing green and swirling insanely from side to side as shouts echoed all around him.

I threw up, though it wasn't entirely because of my vision but because of the huge fucking headache I had. "Sweet Celestia that really hurts" I moaned as he continued to stare. "How long have I been out for?" I asked him, as I stuck out a hoof and motioned for him to help me up.

He cringed at my vomiting but accepted my plea for help and carefully lifted me to my hooves. "Well it's around 3 in the afternoon now sir and I'm afraid you've been sleeping on top of the statue for about 11 hours now… right after you insulted lady Fleur and urinated in the fountain in the gardens."

I nodded as some of the puzzle was shown to me and slapped him on the back. "You're a little young, I mean I know that I was young when I did military service but you can't be far out of colthood, what's your name kid?" I asked him as I picked up the empty whisky bottle at his feet and attempted to get the dregs.

He eyed me in disbelief but he remembered his training and replied "Corporal Shining Armour sir, yes I just graduated Cadet school and I'm currently doing Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays shifts to get used to the hustle and bustle of guard life."

I snorted in amusement as I threw the bottle away, it hitting the face of some weird statue of a dragon like creature and smashing. I explained "You mean you've got all the jobs that nopony wants, being regular army once upon a time it works the same way. Newbies get to deal with all the bullshit that the vets don't have to, don't worry give it a year and you'll work your way to a better post."

He chuckled politely and frowned and I of course wondered why he had such a long face and asked "What's the matter? Come on don't tell me that you don't like guarding the castle drunk?" but of course that was not what I was, I was the pony who was supposed to be quietly investigating everypony else, not spending time trying to kill myself with alcohol.

He smiled uneasily and retorted "There hasn't been a standing Equestrian army for about 150 years… I'm sorry sir but I'm inclined to not believe you."

Naturally I had been out of touch with things for a while so I brushed myself down and patted him on the back again, wiping my mouth. "You're an astute young lad, well spotted that there isn't any army I was testing you. Now as you can see by my badge" I said, holding it up for him to see 'That I got work to do, you can return to the barracks and do whatever, play cards or hook up with your coltfriend, whatever you Royal Guards do when you aren't on the job."

He blushed and I couldn't help but crack a smile as I began to stride away and maintain the cool and laid back persona I had just given off, taking some time to silently scream when I'd reached behind a corner as my brain nearly melted inside my skull.

 _"Got to lay off the whisky"_ I said to myself as I tried to remember the way back to my room. It was likely Celestia would be pissed off with me but I figured that letting loose after all the needless stress and painful memories I'd gone through was an acceptable thing, a few more days and I'd start researching.

 _"Besides not like they can run out of alcohol"_ I chuckled as I opened my door and almost had a heart attack when the Princess stepped out of it, causing me to fall flat on my flank in shock as she bore down upon me and in a very shaming voice accused "So this is your work? This is investigating Project Foretell? This is you outing Eugenic and bringing justice for yourself and those lost to you?

Let me say I believed you, I believed your story and I can tell that you are from another time, that you are out of place but I cannot do anything without evidence and whilst you fritter away your time I get impatient, maybe you are lying afterall, because right now all I see before me is a joke."

Her words were harsh but they were all true and my ears instantly fell flat against my head as I thought of my actions. " _Thinks she knows how easy it is"_ I thought, " _Then again… they were my comrades and I am basically ignoring their memory by doing nothing, I should have headed to the library last night, not got utterly smashed and pissed in a pond."_

Celestia's eyes showed no mercy as I turned away from her stare. She said no more words as she wordlessly walked past me and finished her tirade with "Don't make a fool out of me or out of yourself" before she disappeared behind a corner, her heavy hoof-steps echoing off the marble floors of the castle with a beautiful *clink* like some kind of fancy instrument.

 _"Buck I'm an idiot"_ I thought as I got into my room and closed the door, the blinds were open and the sun was doing it's best to make me cringe. I went over to my desk and picked up a small map of the castle and studied it.

It had basics, the throne room, the kitchens, the barracks and then the library of which contained so many books and papers on Equestria and the history of Canterlot that it would be an invaluable tool to the investigation.

I sighed as I studied the map before putting it back on the desk, I wondered if I should have a shower or at least wash my face but decided against it. " _I have a duty to perform"_ was my main focus/excuse and so after a little more grim pandering to my own unforetold future I set off to one of the greatest literary places in Equestria.

Well when I say I set off I mean I walked down the hallway, turned right, walked down that hallway, turned right and walked down that hallway and found my way back to my room. I decided from that point on that although cursed with telling the future I didn't have a photographic memory and so I nipped back in and picked up my map, promising to myself to never leave my room without it again… at least when I was sober.

Well actually it didn't really matter anyway as I found out in the next 20 minutes that I was extremely useless at reading maps and it made me wonder how I'd been able to find my way anywhere before now, I mean I had a degree and everything technically was I not smart enough to figure out how to get around a castle?

Eventually however I found my way to an open balcony and not bothering to content myself with anymore stairs, hallways and the bazillions of rooms within each I decided to use my wings to get down from the castle and land in the grounds, I'd ask somepony down there for directions and this whole problem would be sorted.

That's what I figured anyway but when I stepped up to the balcony I suddenly was overcome with this strange sense of vertigo. I know right? A pegasus who had a sense of vertigo, what was I some kind of chicken? Well my brain certainly made me perceive myself as one as looking down at that ground, all those miles below or metres or whatever made me want to throw up and in truth I did at that exact moment throw up as I closed my eyes and received a prediction.

There was a pretty yellow mare in some frilly outfit, was she a maid? Anyway she was in a hospital and she was either highly bloated or pregnant but I went with the second one, there was something wrong however and she began to screech, there was pain and then she was getting rushed away by nurses and then doctors flooded in and all of a sudden she was crying, bawling her eyes out in pain as she held her foal in her arms, her lifeless stillborn she had planned around and planned to love forever and ever only to have been cheated out of it by fate.

My throat began to get a familiar ache as the bile ran down the balcony and probably dripped onto the head of some bureaucrat below. I had nothing left in my stomach at this point and it was killing me, this all was killing me, I felt like crying as the mare had or rather as she would when she held her dead child for the first and last time.

"Buck this" I thought as I curled up into a ball and tried to close my eyes, wanting my bridge back, wanting to never have the bad feelings of what was to come. I couldn't save her child, I couldn't save any child really I could only watch as pain racked others, I was a coward my design and I wished at that moment that I was dead.

However to save me from my slow degeneration back into the depressive hobo I had and to much extent still very much was, was a young mare who I'd never met before.

I heard her coming before anything else, she hurried to my side and using a hoof she rubbed my back slowly and in an almost motherly tone that could not fit one so young she whispered "Shhh, it's ok… it's ok."

I turned my head around and looked at the latest pony to witness my pathetic ways, she was about the same age I would guess as the kid guard standing by me this afternoon when I awoke. She was… radiant would best describe it, with a very vibrant pink coat that smelled of strawberries, a mane that swirled with vanilla, purple and hot pink along with a crown that showed she was royalty and best of all these deep and kind caring lavender eyes… oh yeah also she was an Alicorn but that really wasn't the important part or was it?

I sniffed as I was held by this kid who could only be 16 maybe 17 and tried not to cry my eyes out. "Back off" I ordered pretty much, the mare of course not backing away, I didn't need any of Celestia's spawn to nurse me and report back to her how much of complete and total broken fool I was.

"Talk to me" was all she simply said and I supposed that I had nothing more of whatever reputation I had to lose so I talked to the pretty pink Alicorn Princess. "I'm… I'm just so tired of it all. I can't go on anymore I just feel, dead inside whenever I see them…"

It was clear that she had some inkling about me as she didn't immediately look at me as if I needed a white straight jacket. "Calm down, my aunt has told me about your condition and Twily has also informed me that you have a lot of pain… I well I'm not as smart as Twilight, young as she is and I would say or as wise as my aunt but I love to love and right now I think that's all you really need."

It was a very poor speech but I would give her 10/10 for how much care she put into it as she wrapped her hooves around my cowering form. To be fair, I don't know why but I did suddenly begin to feel a bit better, as if the mere presence of her next to me soothe my soul and made me forget about the mare around here who would lose her foal, about my friends who had died so violently, and about all of this life in general.

I stopped the sobbing and breathed in deeply, exhaling with my eyes closed as I began to see something, this young mares future. I saw a powerful energy which caused her to rise above the ground with some stallion, her husband maybe? She looked a little older so it probably was as they seemed connected, I don't know what she did but the power emanated protectiveness and love.

Next she was flying through the air, swooping as it were with some giant crystal floating near her and some purple ball tucked into her hooves. Something happened with the crystal and suddenly she shone like a million stars.

I shook my head as I opened my eyes, gazing upon her as she consoled me with a smile. "My name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can call me Cadence Mr Renovare?" she asked me as I wiped my eyes and shuffled away from her as she held out a hoof, standing up slowly and backing up to the balcony to give me space.

All this… (it might be a suspicion of mine) was beginning to connect in some way I was sure. There was Princess Celestia and her weeping, there was the little filly Twilight and her all powerful evil or pure self, there was the kid this morning with his green eyes and now there was this Princess Cadence… there were connections here that I couldn't see but I bet that anyone who was reading this piss poor story, for that was what it was reading like would no doubt point out the obvious and show me how much of an idiot I was.

I sniffed once more and cracked a small and weak smile at her, taking her hoof in mine I replied "Charmed to meet you Miss Cadenza… I know I ask a lot after all that but… you wouldn't by any chance know which way it is to the library would you?"

The Princess chuckled and held her own smile, full of life and love as she proclaimed "Why of course, I was heading that way myself to do some research for one of my advanced magical theoretics exams, Princess as I may be I don't get to skip a quality education."

So she began trotting away and I followed her, talking all the way about school, boys, magic and all the crap that made me thankful that I was alive in the first place, the small talk of an average day that I hadn't had in hundreds of years.


	5. Chapter 5: Figure it Out

**Figure it Out**

So the week progressed at a fairly slow pace to be honest but it was made bearable by the injections of meeting on the odd occasion with Princess Cadence, mostly in the library when I was snoring into some book over the history of Canterlot at one point or another.

I read about a lot in the week I'd been perusing through the library, slowly garnering the knowledge of which I needed to fully begin my investigation. I had naturally started at what I believed to be the core of all the poisonous deeds done to me.

Dr Eugenic de Morre, inventor of over 30 different medical instruments that have probably over the years saved a few hundred thousand ponies, wrote several papers that are considered core base knowledge to medical students today and finally his titles.

Eugenic was in the eyes of history a fucking saint, he had so many titles, so many awards and merits. Besides his degrees in medicine and psychology, his Bachelorettes in biology and genetics he was also a contributor to charity… can you believe it he actually gave thousands of bits to charity and to put more icing on this fucked up cake he had "patron of the arts" in there after he reportedly saved a theatre hall by selling off one of his inventions patents.

" _Motherfucker"_ was the only thing that kept rotating into my head as I delved deeper through the history of Canterlot, trying to find one book, one article that painted him in any kind of bad light, only finding out that he was a saint at every turn and that my appointment was going to be far far far far far more difficult than I could even have originally quantified.

Not just that but I had been struggling recently, I had made a promise to myself not to go overboard on the drink and I was suffering for it, visions were doubling, no tripling and in the week I had received more predictions than I would have in an entire month by the bridge.

Cadence and her original words of wisdom, combined with my ever growing shift in complete hatred from Celestia to Eugenic was what was really fuelling me now however, what compelled me to sit here day after day and read these books that basically kissed a murderer's ass.

Still I would get my revenge even if I had to sit behind these books for 100 years and that was a promise to whatever was left of ponykind in me, not a lot I would say but enough to enact some revenge.

I set the current book I'd been reading down and rubbed my eyes in tiredness as I looked across the library to see if there was anything happening. I wasn't expecting a rave but then even a cough would be considered as a ground shattering event right now.

I had been struggling recently to find out any information about the History of the Royal Guards. Well there were books but they were vague and didn't focus on names and specifics, I needed records or something and checking the archives turned up nothing either, and I wondered if there really were any?

I heard a small noise and yawned as I craned my neck and my eyes widened. What would you know though, after a week of seeing no sight of the little filly Twilight to my surprise and slight delight there she was, balancing atop a ladder as she levitated books around her in a kind of masterful way, as if she had done this a couple of hundred times before.

I smiled and hopped up, seeing she had clearly not noticed me yet and decided to go and say hello to her. As I had thought all those many days ago when Cadence had found me crying my worthless self out over that particularly tragic vision that small talk was actual kind of nice and it killed the feeling of intense boredom in me.

I trotted over as she began to descend the ladder and as to make sure she didn't fall I waited until her hoof touched the ground before I blurted "Hiya there Miss Twilight" much to her shock as she screamed and fell backwards, books going everywhere as I caught her on my back and I myself crumpled, having not really carried or held anything heavy for years.

"What in the name of Celestia is wrong with you!" she yelled as she hopped off of me as if I was some kind of infected demon from another dimension. I was a little offended to be honest, I mean I had heard from Cadence whom had for many years been Twilight's foal sitter that she was very smart and generally considerate of other ponies but that really hit me right in the feels.

In reality I was just pleased she hadn't slammed me through a few bookcases and broken more of my ribs in the process. "Don't remember me Twilight? I mean you gave me quite the heavy questioning when we last met… you know when I was all tied up to a bed and vomited all over myself? You know that was me."

I smiled as she looked over at me annoyed as she began to gather her books. "Yes I remember you Mr Faithe, I've done considerable research into you since I last saw you. You were a son of a Prench Merchant who settled in Canterlot over 300 years ago, your Father married a Canterlonian shopkeeper named Spice who died when you were 17, just before you attended The Royal University of Canterlot's Divination course.

Graduating with merit 4 years later, you were immediately snapped up for a top secret Equestrian project, of which failed with all members tragically killed. Next you know it you're here, shouting crazy stories, trying to kill my mentor giving my brother the hard job of guarding you whenever your drunk self passes out atop statues and having my old foalsitter show up late for her private tutoring."

My jaw literally dropped to the floor as Twilight basically told me more about my life than I had ever known about myself. Also the revelation that she was connected to that kid guard… Shining… something was just an another puzzle piece in the theory that everything was connected and I had no idea what was happening.

"How do you… how could you know so much about me, about my family I… what the heck?" I asked her grumpily and although she looked like she was trying to hide it I saw her as she smirked and retorted "It's just a bit of research, only took a day or so to dredge up some information. Started with your cutie mark, the white veil thing that must have something to do with the future, well I checked University records and yours was recorded there along with your name, from there it was coltsplay to find out more about you… could have found out more but then I don't have access to the archives yet… Princess Celestia says in a few years when I'm older."

I was impressed but angry as well that she would simply dig into my past like that, but I was mostly angry at how easy it had been for her to do it, and in but a day. "Well little miss smarty pants you wouldn't mind in giving me a helping hoof here would you? I'm looking to find records on the Royal Guard and all their recruits through history but I have no literal record books, only military history things" I said as Twilight finished collecting her books.

She sighed as if this was the least thing she really wanted to be talking about right now and replied "I'm very busy, I have several essays on the history of Mathematical Magical Formula to do for tomorrow but if you really want a pointer I suggest you go to the guard barracks, they probably have a charter there or something."

She was very dismissive, though I guessed that after all her research she was disappointed that there wasn't more to me than just this sad old vessel. "You know you won't earn any friends by being all prissy and obnoxious young Twilight" I told her as she trotted away, head obscured by books.

"Who said I need friends" she shot back and as if that were the trigger word my eyes rolled up into my skull and suddenly I saw an older Twilight Sparkle, possibly in her late teens in a circle of five or maybe six ponies, shouting angrily at them and pointing at something in the distance. Suddenly she was in a forest, all alone and scared but she pressed on, having overcome a lot by the looks of it.

Now she was in a chamber of stone, a castle? Yes and there were orb like rocks floating around her and some creature of black stood before her, the vision was hazy but it looked like an Alicorn with menacing eyes and teeth like that of a sharks.

Suddenly Twilight was gasping as the rocks fell and the creature began to laugh, there was a few moments and suddenly Twilight was writhing in agony as the dark thing used her magic to contort Twilight's limbs and twist her bones. She kept repeating something but naturally like with most of my visions it was simply a vision and I could not hear anything.

I opened my eyes and threw up on the fancy carpet that I was currently on, shaking my head as I sat down and tried to calm down, Twilight disappearing behind some shelves. " _Fuck does this filly have a lot of potential future's, most people would be amazed to get one but no already she's had 3-4 and at least 2 have been sheer terrible."_

Admittedly they terrified the jeepers out of me but telling Twilight anything would likely result in the bad ones coming true and for her sake and for mine I really hoped that, that would never happen as despite that cold shoulder she seemed like an innocent little filly who was under a lot of pressure to perform.

 _"The world is made of innocent fillies"_ I thought as Twilight disappeared, leaving me alone in the grand library. _"So she's related to that kid who was watching me. Seems like the entire family is connected to this place, may as well check out the guard barracks then."_

Getting help from a filly might not have looked great but in the end I didn't really care overly much, it was clear over my past week of investigating the Eugenic was untouchable, guy had no criminal record and no living family. His estate had been converted into an asylum to help ponies affected by mental disorders and all assets and funds were left in the name of medical science and auctioned off.

I hate thinking about my time in the caves but I can remember there being at least 10 guards there all of them twisted and almost carnal in their nature. I supposed Eugenic must have had them on a separate payroll, the bonus of letting their twisted fantasies be realised was probably a plus as well but how they slept at night would probably be the biggest mystery.

The new world brought photography and film to Equestria but 300 years ago these things didn't exist, drawings however were very popular and if I could find the names of everypony that was in the guard back then, then I would hopefully be able to search for their family history and find art dedicated to them and if my memory could work overtime I might be able to recognise somepony.

If not then I would have to try something else, I had asked the castle administrator for access to the caves since I had remembered the entrance had been through the castle dungeons but I was informed that the caves and mines that ran deep within the mountain had reportedly collapsed decades ago and were now all flooded.

It was for the best I supposed, Eugenic would have not left anything behind anyway when he packed up shop and 300 years is a long time so any smudge of evidence would have been destroyed by now. Going back there would also have not been easy and right now I didn't need anything that could bring me down anymore.

I supposed that if I really needed to I could simply investigate the entire guard of that year but then that would take years for one pony to do and although I hadn't seen Celestia since she had paid me a visit, I could tell she was disgruntled with my presence and with my allegations that although she would probably not admit she believed 100 percent.

" _No wonder, she's practically the Mother of Equestria, to find out that one of the nation's greatest patrons was a twisted freak would show weakness in the universal theory of harmony that she's been developing for years."_

Finding out there was no standing army was amazing and I had taken a few looks in books to see that it was figured that as there had been no war in a few centuries and as the economy was doing well and every nation surrounding Equestria was friendly that instead efforts would be taken to simply keep a peacekeeping force and disband the military.

I hadn't cared about politics or issues of Equestria for a long time now, mostly because I figured Celestia was a tyrant… something I still contemplated but when I was a good patriotic pony I prided myself on my 2 years military service right out of University.

I remember my Dad when I was a kid, trotting down to the harbour in Baltimare one day to see the naval parade, massive ships made out of strong Iron, shaped like triangles with huge funnels and cannons mounted on them, steaming here and there and flying flags proudly.

No more was there need for warships, no longer was there need for an army. I supposed in some way the air force survived through these Wonderbolt Ponies, if limited to a thousand or so ponies with a few hundred reserves and being more into the spectacles and parade way of doing things than actually training for combat.

Militias have become police forces and the Royal Guard have been cut in half, entire families with a history of active service were now shop vendors, contractors and general things that I supposed was not bad if they were happy with it.

So the economy without a defence budget was awesome, no need to produce weapons or finance barracks, pay soldiers, build outposts and stuff. It all went towards the ponies of the land, a little trick I supposed I admired Celestia for.

Still one day there would be a war and even if Celestia was one of the most powerful beings in Equestria she can't simply sweep away armies and ships with her magic, at least I didn't think she can but then I wasn't really that informed on the power invested within the Princess, I guessed it was a lot but come on.

I sighed as I went back to the table I had been studying at. "I suppose that it's time I paid a visit to the guard barracks" I thought as I shut the book I'd been reading and headed out of the library.

 ***Writer's Note***

Well what do you think?


	6. Chapter 6: Taking Time

**Taking Time**

So naturally I had run into a little snag that was preventing me from getting on with my all important investigation. Here I was at the guard barracks in the left wing of the castle on the ground floor with all the credentials I needed around my neck, stating my supposed all access pass to all Royal institutions and restricted areas.

I figured that this would be easy but low and behold the guard in front of me was preventing me from going inside and on completely idiotic grounds.

Naturally he had told me to "halt" and when I'd shown him my pass he had shaken his head and said he'd never heard of such a thing and that it was a fake and that I was probably some reporter who had no access beyond the grounds and the castle's public areas.

Personally I felt like telling him to deal with it and waltzing past but then again I didn't want to get smashed in the face today so I decided that diplomacy would have to be the way forward.

I told him that I had been personally issued by Celestia to investigate important allegations that implicated the Royal Guard in serious violations of ponies liberties and general rights and thankfully all the fancy words made him think twice and so he called one of his comrades out from inside the barracks to go and ask the Captain, whom was apparently overseeing a training routine outside of Canterlot at the moment whether this was legit or not.

So I was, standing before this bozo who hadn't gotten the memo, staring into those well-trained, cold eyes of pure beef cakeness and wondering why I'd even bothered when finally after well over an hour a pegasus messenger pony came rushing up to us, whispering in the stoical guard's ear hastily before panting and landing, trotting off for a rest.

The guard looked half embarrassed, half furious as he stepped back and tried not choke as he said dryly "You may enter the barracks" opening the door with one hoof and standing back, his eyes boring holes through the ceiling and looking everywhere but at me.

"It's about bloody time I would say" I said with annoyance as standing here for the past hour had not been fun at all. " _He is just doing his job"_ the rational part of me thought as I strode importantly through the large and rather less luxurious halls of the barracks and took in the sights.

The ceiling was smaller and there were no hanging tapestries like in the hallways, the floor was also devoid of the red carpet which the rest of the castle contained, only having a bland, grey stone floor for ponies to content themselves with.

" _How charmingly rustic"_ I thought as I hurried along, not in a rush to find the book but more in a rush to do something to fill up the boredom that was developing within me.

Had it over a week ago I would have been fine being bored, wasting my days under the bridge and dulling my senses with alcohol but since returning to real life, to the life real ponies lived with all these horrible visions it seemed to energise me even if I still felt like giving up every other moment. I felt like a resurrected dead pony on a hopeless quest for vengeance.

Suddenly a guard swung into view, carrying a spear in one hoof and my eyes closed as I began to have a vision, undoubtably it was not going to be about sunshine and bunnies.

I saw him, the guard without armour before some figure, a pony by the looks but maybe a griffon and he was buying something, something he really shouldn't be buying. A few moments passed and the shadowy figure began to argue and suddenly a dagger was produced and now the guard was getting stabbed repeatedly in the throat by the shadowy figure who then made his hasty escape through the streets. The young guard gurgled a little as blood poured from his neck and mouth across the street slabs and into the drains.

His eyes dulled as he stopped his short gasps for breath and died. Nopony would find his body, at least not until the early morning and when they did they would find what he had been trying to buy, something bad it would seem as the scene changed, a funeral but not a full military one. Now there were only a few ponies, a Father maybe and a few friends helping to lower the coffin into the ground, into the solemn darkness.

My eyes opened and I half spat, half vomited to the left of me. The young guard being taken aback, stepped away with a questioning expression. "Hey watch what you're doing buddy!" he yelled as he stared quizzically at me before hurrying onwards to wherever he had been going, oblivious to his future and his probable demise.

Not all future's came true but if you only had one prediction of a pony you could be guaranteed almost that you were going to be in some trouble related to the vision, no matter what.

I calmed myself and carried onwards, passed a room which contained various assortments of armour. There was the lighter stuff made of finer materials, there was the normal armour that every guard wore standardly all gleaming and polished, and then there was this heavy looking juggxrnaught looking armour which would basically make any pony in it impenetrable to all but magical related attack.

Past that room I found another filled to the ceiling with weapons. From spears to swords, to bows and crossbows this room looked like a lot of fun for any stallion who was a kid at heart and there were some stallions in there, polishing the steel halberds and shields with some small sense of elation I supposed.

I passed a couple of rooms with desks, logistical platforms for the guard to write up reports and deal with red tape but finally at the end of the hall I came to what must have been the living quarters in which much chuckling and laughter was emanating from and after shutting my eyes for a brief moment I thought I was back home, in the barracks with all my friends just out of University.

Sighing and trotting onwards I was met by large, open spaced halls which half contained bunk beds and half contained chairs and other leisure items with a nice, lit fireplace in the centre which made the room very toasty and emanate a natural warmth.

There were about nine guards, all chatting and socialising amongst themselves and having a gay old time who hadn't noticed me yet. So striding on over int the quarters I looked around. After scanning a nearby bookshelf for anything that might contain a ledger and finding nothing but tactics and polishing manuals I decided a friendly chat would be the best way to go about acquiring my item of interest.

"Hello there lads, sorry to interrupt the circle jerk but would anypony happen to know where I can find records for the Royal Guard dated to about 300 years ago? A bit specific I know but you see I'm doing some important digging into the past and need a few names and faces to get started" I said after trotting over to the group and placing a hoof on one of the nice armchairs.

The nine of them all stopped talking immediately and swivelled their heads around, some looking angry as they probably knew who I was and what I had tried to do to their leader. Others stared dumbly and wondered who I was as at that moment though my head began to hurt and I grunted as I opened my eyes and the horror began to start.

I saw the stallions, all clad in full battle armour atop the castle battlements, there was smoke in the air and nearby there was a fire that somepony was trying to control. They Pulled back crossbows clasped in their hooves using their teeth and magic and took aim over the battlements at something… something fairly big.

One of them called something as suddenly something huge smashed into the walls, killing most of them whilst others would cry in agony as the rocks smashed into them and they clung to the shredded wall for their lives, blood spurting out of wounds and some missing limbs.

I opened my eyes and swallowed the bile in my mouth, my throat was not the benefactor of these visions but then neither would these soldiers be, these brave young soldiers with their whole lives ahead of them… I prayed that the prediction never came true but that would be wishful thinking.

 _"Fuck I wish I had something to drink"_ I thought as the soul destroying pain began to come to me, the realisation of reality that no matter what I did, whether it be a divorce or a massacre I could not save them, I could not stop them from dying.

"Mr Faithe" I heard a voice come suddenly from behind me and glancing back my eyes still watering from the vision I had seen, were met with a very surprised but familiar face. "Shimmering Agar!" I exclaimed in much elation as I bounded over to him and began to furiously shake his hoof up and down.

He dropped whatever he had been carrying in his saddle bag which made a familiar *clack* as he reared a little, smiling nervously as his colleagues gave him mixed, questioning looks. "Mr Faithe… uh it's Shining Armour and what are you doing here?"

I smiled and I myself stood on my hind hooves as I clasped his hoof on mine. "Please call me Ren, we're practically pals now and hey tell me, you wouldn't happen to know where I can find a ledger or a record of the guard? Really need it and all that" I said as I let him back down onto four legs.

His ears flattened against his head as he coughed, raising a hoof as he tried to think of a reply to my bombardment, ending up saying "Yeah I'm not sure where one of those might be, I think that there are some books like that in the Captain's office but uh… you need permission to go in there. I can send a runner if you…" but I cut him off with a wave of my hoof, shaking my head.

"It's all cool, got no problem chilling here with the fellas while I wait for this Captain of yours, already bothered him with a messenger once today" I smiled at them all as I suddenly lifted into the air, supported by my wings, which had in recent days been getting a little more accustomed to carrying me around and flew over to the little party with ease to an open chair where I sprawled out and grinned wider.

"Now where do we keep the Everfree Liquor?" I asked them as I rubbed my hooves together, Shining still standing awkwardly in the hallway as his friends looked from me to him and tried to think of something to say or do that would break the awkwardness of the situation.

They were probably wondering if arresting me was on the table but it was obvious the badge with the Royal seal and the signature engraved by the Princess herself was putting these youngsters off the idea.

Shining sighed and trotted over to an empty chair and with his magic he levitated a bottle of some green looking mixture out of the bag and after blushing again he replied "We were about to break open this bottle and unwind a little so I guess you could have a little whilst you wait if you so wi…"

I cut him off as I promptly leapt out the chair, grabbing the bottle and screwing the cap off, taking a swig and seeing what kind of fuel soldier boys went on nowadays. I opened and closed my mouth, expected something gritty, something pure that would sting the throat but all I got to my shock and slight disappointment was the intense, sour taste of apples.

"What the buck is this?" I demanded with a most disdainful tone as the other ponies looked at me with slightly nervous and outraged looks. "It's uh… apple schnapps" Shining explained as he tried to reach for the bottle of which I carried away and began to study with contempt and amusement.

"15% alcoholic content? Jesus this stuff is like water!" I exclaimed as I took another large swig, the others looking on with a annoyance and for a few shame and discomfort, Shining Armour seeming to be one of them.

"Hey it's just a relaxing drink to mix with some cordials we don't need anything heavy to have fun, the Captain forbids heavy drinking" one of his friends spoke up, of whom I singled out immediately as a spritely looking orange guard not the tallest but certainly strong looking, I think I'd seen him getting crushed but remembering that made my heart pain so I took another large gulp, the bottle only 1/3 full now.

"This drink is basically apples kid, in my day don't know if the message has spread but when I was in the Equestrian army all we'd drink was this clear, unlabelled liquid from nearby farmer markets, basically moonshine and believe me everypony back then was hooked on the stuff, we'd do nothing in our time off but drink that stuff… that and visit brothels… I think both are banned now but the point is you boys are a bunch of mares and need a real drink."

They all looked from one to another as I flapped into the air with a plan formulating within me and told them "Stay here, flying off without a word more as I headed for the castle cellar and I know that I'd said to Celestia no more drunkard behaviour but I was only going to teach these young guards, barely out of training the meaning of getting hammered and spending the night on top of a statue.

I was gone maybe 10 minutes, but I returned, flapping past the guard who still stood by the door with about 6 bottles of the whisky I had been drinking the night I might have desecrated the outdoor fountain. He said nothing but I could tell he was suspicious looking.

They were all still mourning it seemed over the loss of their apple crap, of which to a trained alcoholic like myself was only giving me a small buzz but I smiled as I saw their stunned faces when I lay down the more radical alcohol, still had it been Everfree it would have blown their minds.

"Alright everypony, hey sit down you or be labelled a coward" I pointed to one of the guards who was trying to excuse himself and get away, sitting back down with a red face as they all stared at me and probably contemplated whether or not it was legal for them to say no and leave.

"Look I know what you're thinking, whose this crazy pony with the badge that allows him access to everything? Why is he here to ruin our night of drinking apple juice? Well guess what kids this pony here has seen all your futures, that's right I can Foretell stuff and let me tell you that what I've seen is pretty damned tragic… well Shimmering Allure may have a shot but the rest of you will either become pate or spend the rest of your lives in a bed getting fed watered oats through a straw.

So would you like to play truth or dare and live a little or would you like to moan about not drinking your apple schnapps and go to bed?" I asked rather forcefully as everypony stared at me as if I was mad… which in truth I kind of was.

Some seemed to want to back out and some seemed to want to storm away but surprisingly Shining Armour was the first pony who said "Fine I'm in, if what you say is true then I may as well lose myself for a night and die with this ticked off my bucket list."

I had to flap over to him and smack him on the back, eliciting a whinny from him as I yelled "That's the spirit, now what about the rest of you mares? You in or do you want to go home and suckle on Momma's teat? Trust me I can see the future you all really need this" I admitted, whether they believed me or not was their choice but telling the truth although not my policy seemed right.

That pretty much settled it as the testosterone factor kicked in and suddenly everypony was ready to follow me to tartarus, grudgingly nodding and murmuring their commitment to not pussing out.

"So let's play truth or dare or drink." I said as I grabbed the empty apple juice bottle and stuck it on the coffee table we were all positioned around and grinned as I spun it hard. "So basically after this bottle stops at one of you, you will pick either truth, dare or drink. I think you know how truth works and I will ask that question for starters, if you pick dare then I will tell you the dare for starters and afterwards you will do so for anypony else for the both and after that the next pony and so on will do so for the next victim, naturally refusing the dare means two drinks and then drink is simply taking a swig of this stuff."

They all looked like they were out of their depths a bit but as the bottle landed on the orange colt from earlier I had to lick my lips and ask "Truth, dare or drink?" something of which he gulped at and took a moment to think. "Uh… t-truth?" he stuttered, playing it safe as everypony could clearly see.

"Hmm what a pussy you are" I murmured so he could barely hear me as he looked pleadingly at me. I decided to let him off easy, asking "Alright out of the 9 of us who would you rather screw right now, come on I know you guys think about it all the time a bit of inter guard queerness is nothing to shun just embrace it."

It was lewd but I couldn't have everypony choosing truth. He stuttered a lot and shook his head as he protested saying "I-I w-w-would never I mean, I don't think…" but I wasn't having it and some of the others were chortling a little at his nervous floundering, hooves folded as the lay back.

Eventually he sighed though and with a face resembling that of a purple beet he muttered "Shining Armour" to which there was a huge whoop of laughter, practically howls of it and Shining Armour's face in turn, turned red as he tried to burrow into the chair himself.

"Well I can't deny he has a very supple rear" I chortled as I began to feel something stir in the back of my mind, knowing another vision approached I myself grabbed a bottle of whisky and after biting the cork out I swigged a little and sat back, trying not to think about the future and live with the present.

"Alright then we now know that you're gay for Shinning Amor so let's spin the bottle again shall we?" I said as I nodded for the Orange stallion to come out from beneath his tail he'd been hiding behind as his friends laughter finally died down a bit. He spun the bottle and after a moment it landed on one of the ponies with the loudest laugh, some grey pony who was tall and muscly.

He grinned confidently as he uttered dare and the little orange stallion tried to think of one, obviously intending on getting him back. I shimmied on over to him, much to everyponys protest as I whispered an idea or two in his head, returning to my seat a moment later as he cleared his throat.

"Garnered I want you to go outside the barracks to where Sine is standing guard and whisper in a seductive tone 'There is a party on inside, why not come join us' winking and running your tail along his snout."

The dare was not bad for starters and some sniggers and chortles were elicited and Garnered, I supposed that was his name was stood up, easily towering over everypony else and shot "Twisted that's not fair you got that from the weirdo there!" he directed to the Orange pony whose name I had also just recently discovered.

"What are you chicken Garnered?" Shining Armour asked, saving Sterile from having to retort to an argument he had not the strength of character to win. Garnered thought for a moment as the bemused faces of his comrades looked on and eventually he muttered "I refuse, give me… give me the bottle."

I smiled pleasantly as I chucked him the bottle and reminded "Big gulps now" and he shot me a look of pure disdain as he smelt it and then with his eyes shut threw it back, taking one gulp and then two before slamming the bottle down, turning red and choking like I'd never seen a pony choke, sputtering saliva and whisky across the pony next to him as he collapsed onto his chair, everypony howling with laughter at his predicament.

"Sh-sSHUT UP!" he yelled as he recovered and began to spin the bottle, it of course landing on me. I smiled and looked up at him, I could easily do drink but I was hanging with a bunch of stallions right now who had their testosterone and ego levels set to 10 so I would play the game I had started.

"Dare" I smiled as I sat back, waiting for him to produce something. He grinned as he wheezed, trying to get his breath back before uttering "Since you're so very high and mighty and stallion why don't we have a little hoof wrestle, I dare you to hoof wrestle me bud and the loser drinks thrice" he grinned as he looked down at me.

Admitted I was not what looked like the strongest of characters and my wings truly were weaker than the average pegasi as with my hooves but I had something going for me… one was that I was determined not to lose and two was the vitality of an Alicorn that ran through my veins… or at least that's the lie I told myself to help bolster my confidence.

"Okay Frosty let's do it" I chuckled as I fell down to the coffee table the chairs were placed around and put a hoof out, Garnered doing the same as he grinned at me, face flushed thanks to the alcohol as he clasped his hoof in mine. "You're going down freak" he murmured as the other stallions began to cheer Garnered on, Shining Armour remaining silent as we counted "3…2…1…" and began.

He hit hard, trying to bring a snapping victory but I saw this and pushed back with all my force, he was strong, much stronger than me but I didn't intend to lay down and lose this fight and forced myself back against him as he smiled, seeing my teeth grit in concentration.

"Give up?" he asked as my hoof began to slowly give away to his and my eyes closed and I amazingly through a slight haze began to see his future. "There he was, he didn't look older than he was now and he was by the bed of somepony, a loved one? I only got a slight look at their face but it was obvious it was his Father, old and dying.

The scene changed and suddenly there was a coffin and it was on his shoulder, he was trying not to cry but failing as it began to rain and now the coffin was being lowered in. I felt the emotions, the anger and injustice, the hopelessness and the sadness as I opened my eyes and saw Garnered, that determined expression on his face.

 _"Fuck pride I'm an idiot"_ I told myself as I released my hoof and he victoriously rose, shouting happily as I grabbed the bottle from the table, chugging it like an ice cold beer, probably going beyond three gulps.

His friends patted him on the back and his brief moment of fame dissipated and I sat back down, choking out "Well done" as I didn't suddenly feel like playing anymore. I mean it was all the same right? These kids were going to die, there loved ones were going to die and it was all going to be horrible and I was not able to do jack.

" _Fuck"_ was all I thought as I unconsciously continued playing and took another swig, zoning out as I tried to understand for the millionth time in my life what it was all for. "Love? Friendship? Family? Did it matter in the end to those who were mortal. You had 20 years of earning to do something 30-40 years of doing something and then 20-30 years of sitting alone, getting fed through a straw and fading to dust.

What was worse was seeing it happen repeatedly, all these terrible fates, only terrible fates as I had always pretty much only been able to see. _"I want my bridge"_ was all I thought with a sigh that nopony noticed.

I sat there as the bottle span again and the game began to pass in a blur, maybe it was my sudden depressive nature, maybe it was considering the fact that I was really 280 years older than these stallions having spent my life hiding from a false threat and the reality of everyponys misfortune.

I took a little daydream trip, trying to imagine what it would be like to have never signed up for that stupid experiment and to have lived a normal life, never knowing the pain ponies could feel, that they would feel.

I returned to the real world with a solemn look on my face, wishing I could stay zoned out and took in everypony. They seemed to have drank at least a swig each and now there was a more relaxed feeling was in the air, a lot more boisterous and less stuck up as they were being taught to be.

"Well Truth, dare or drink?" Shining Armour suddenly asked me, his face a little flushed as I stared at him, or rather through him, not comprehending anything he had just said. _"He will die too, I've not seen it clearly but he will probably die slowly, he's a special one, connected to the young filly Twilight and she will either do terrible things or going to go on to do great things or maybe both"_ I thought, I'd seen a few great ponies throughout the ages but Twilight was probably the greatest and the one I was most afraid of and it must have showed on my face as I simply spoke "Drink" and took a gulp of the bottle.

The evening became night and soon more guards began to show up to turn in for the day and unwind. Being met with their comrades playing such games it was not hard for peer pressure to force them into the circle of certain stupidity I had created.

Soon the circle of ten became a circle of 30 and the whisky was nearly gone and the night was becoming filled with the roars of the young and the foolish.

I had actually stopped drinking a while ago and was now sitting on someponys bunk, pleased I was numbed enough to not be getting anymore visions for the night. More drink arrived, from where I don't know and suddenly there was music and the game became a drunken mess of hooves trying to dance to some kind of heavy industrial metal music that made my ears hurt.

Ponies threw up, ponies began to fight each other and out of the corner of my eye I'm sure I saw Frosty and Twisted making out but then I was still drunk, just not to the point of forgetting my own name.

The music lasted all of about 30 minutes probably as 5 guards flanking what could only have been the Captain of the guard, a tall white Unicorn stallion with a small and bristly black moustache burst in with his eyes wide and face flushed furious as the other guards, all officers by the looks of it stared in complete shock at the chaotic site.

"What the BUCK IS GOING ON HERE!?" the Captain bellowed at the top of his lungs as he began barking orders to his sober guard who began breaking up brawls, separating ponies from the alcohol and shutting down the music.

It would have been bemusing but when then I thought about what was going to happen when this was sorted out, everypony would point the hoof at me as the agent provocateur who caused disharmony and chaos in the most sacred of institutions, the prissy Royal Guard.

"The establishment is trying to shut us down man" somepony shouted as he was wrestled to the ground by one of his sober comrades with a spear and subdued. " _Nah it's still going to be funny, I wonder if Celestia will punish me as well as them? Well punish me more than she already has… intentionally or not."_

"YOU!" the voice of the Captain barked at me as he got right up in my face and screamed "What the BUCK did you DO to my MEN!?" the spittle spraying against my muzzle as I lay back in the bunk without a care in the world.

I coughed as he heaved with rage, barely contained behind his face and I replied politely by asking "This might seem like a bad time but I do believe that you are in possession of a record book that I require for my investigation" putting my fore hooves behind my head and smiling as a large vein pulsated atop his forehead.

Great night


End file.
